Pressure to resign has begun on five bishops named in the Dublin Diocese report on child abuse. The report, which has shocked the nation, exposed a Church cover-up at every level throughout the '60s, '70s and '80s as well as into the '90s — and protection for priest child abusers at every turn.

The five, who formerly served in the Dublin Archdiocese and never pursued allegations against alleged priest child molesters, are Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray, whose handling of allegation was described as "inexcusable" in the report; Bishop Jim Moriarty of Kildare Leighlin Diocese; Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway Diocese; and the two Dublin auxiliary bishops, Bishop Ray Field and Bishop Eamonn Walsh.

Enda Kenny, leader of the Irish opposition party Fine Gael, has called on all five to resign. He stated that "those who were in positions of authority in Dublin archdiocese, and who knew what was going on, should no longer continue in such positions. "This is another appalling litany of shame. Apologies here are not good enough."

Former Labor Party leader Pat Rabbitte said that any bishop "directly implicated" in the Dublin report “should have no role as a school patron”. The pressure on the bishops concerned is bound to intensify as the extent of the allegations against them become more widely known.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has ordered an investigation after the report revealed that the police covered up allegations and in several cases handed them direct to senior clergy rather than pursue actions.

Meanwhile, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, speaking at an event at Crumlin Hospital for children, said the manner in which the sexual abuse of children was dealt with in the Archdiocese in the past "was inexcusable."

"Regrettably this hospital was also the scene of abuse by at least two chaplains, who exploited their role of representing the care of Jesus for the children at their most vulnerable. Information about that abuse was inexcusably not shared with the hospital authorities, even though the Archbishop of the time was also the chairman of the board."

Meanwhile, Archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary said "everyone is deeply disgusted and disillusioned by the awfulness of the abuse, the vulnerability of the victims and the betrayal of the sacred trust."